Mayday is defined as an emergency code word used internationally as a distress signal in radio communications.  This is immediately the irony I thought of after learning I was pregnant and that my due date would be early May, jokingly of course.  This will be my first child.  And I am certain one of the reasons humans have such long pregnancies is to get the mother mentally prepared for how MUCH their life is going to change!

Hi, I’m mamaLife, new to the CafePress blog, but not new to this company.  I’ve been roaming the halls here for about a year and a half now!  My roaming has become a little more like a waddle lately, please just pass me if I’m going too slow people.  Everyday I find products on CafePress that express how I’m feeling about my journey through this pregnancy – so much so that I really wanted to share with you.

One of the newest wonders of being pregnant is all the kicking that the baby is doing.  I was actually surprised how early it starts (my naïve self figured babies don’t kick until 8 months or so?!)  So when I was on vacation in Hawaii last month, it totally took me by surprise to feel kicks after dinner one night.  Like a lot of new moms the first time you think it’s gas.  But with each passing week the kicks get stronger, which is amazing because the baby is relatively small (about the size of a papaya according to Google!)  Sometimes it’s really distracting, sometimes it’s annoying, but most of the time it’s really touching – I’m lucky to have an active, healthy papaya in there!

President Obama gave his first State of the Union address on Wednesday, mercifully sparing “LOST” fans from a delay of the much-anticipated Season 6 Premiere.  (We had a feeling he was a fan… perhaps he’ll be designing some LOST T-shirts soon to fund the healthcare bill.)

Obama’s speech has been described as “somber but dynamic” by at least one analyst who seems to have given various news sources a nice summation soundbyte.  The speech was an hour and 10 minutes long, which compared to Bush’s keep-it-under-an-hour tradition is somewhat long.  In fact, the speech was among the longest State of the Unions in the last 45 years – though no President holds a candle to Bill Clinton, who delivered the top 4 longest addresses.

From our end, the State of the Union wasn’t the most inspiring from a T-shirt perspective; that honor goes to George W. Bush and his human-animal hybrid remarks of 2006.  Indeed, it would seem the soundbytes that cover pressing, legitimate social problems (which already have a lot of T-shirt commentary) – the unemployment rate, job creation, the stimulus package, national security, healthcare, energy – just aren’t as immediately fun to designers as a monkey with a human head.  Ah, the fickle nature of creatives…

The only real moment of T-shirt inspiration came from Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, who seems to have mouthed a “Not true” as Obama criticized the high court’s recent decision to reverse the restrictions on corporate ad campaign spending/candidate endorsement during elections.

Whether Joe Wilson feels trumped is anyone’s guess, but then again his outburst did earn him a lot more T-shirts than Alito’s non-vocal dissent.

Although Obama has more products made about him than any single person in the history of CafePress (3.8 million and counting), his speeches simply don’t seem to provide the fodder that George Bush bestowed upon our design community.  Then again, Obama is the only President to have teleprompter T-shirts made about him, so perhaps that counts.

Overall, the almost 4 million Obama products are still mostly pro-Obama, with the bulk of recent dissent being policy-based.

No, not “Presley” (although it’s still a mystery to me why Elvis lead such a puzzling life).  But rather, the correct answer is “Puzzles.”  And yes, that magically brings us to the point that this Friday is (ta-dah!) National Puzzle Day.  Woo-hoo, get out your #2 pencil and get ready!

This also brings up an enigma of sorts: why would anyone in their right mind would go to all of the trouble of passing an Act of Congress to create National Puzzle Day?  Then again, maybe it’s not a real holiday like Christmas, the 4^th of July or the day Elvis Presley died… hmm.  The origins of this holiday are a puzzle wrapped in an enigma shrouded in mystery…

But back to the point at hand: puzzles have always been wildly popular with folks.  That naturally means there are tons of puzzle-themed designs being created by the CafePress design community (no strangers to fun hobbies).  From crossword puzzles and Sudoku to mazes and math riddles, be sure to check them out.  And hey – have a Happy National Puzzle Day.

Haiti’s devastating earthquake has rallied support from all over the world.  From celebrities to our own Shopkeeper Community, it’s been great to see people doing what they can to help.

We’d like to thank both Studio Number One and our design community for stepping up to donate designs toward Haiti relief.  Shirts are still for sale, and we already cut and mailed a check for $30,000 to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.   Woot!

This isn’t the first time our design community has been so generous (we’ve done donation portals for Katrina, among other things), but every time we witness the creative, generous spirit of our community we can’t help but be amazed at the power of the individual designer.

Huge, huge thanks to everyone who donated designs, bought T-shirts, donated to Haiti relief funds, and sent their good wishes toward a better future for the Haitian people.

And if you haven’t bought a Haiti relief T-shirt, hey – there’s still time.  Spread the word!

It’s not easy being hungry these days. With processed food, fried food, salty food and (yikes!) roach coach food at every corner, you really have to watch what you eat if you plan to live long enough to see the Cubbies win the World Series.  (Oh, and if you go, be wary of the snacks at Wrigley Field).

Now, green-thinkers have come up with a list of supposedly good food that’s actually bad for the environment. They’re sort of like CIA double-agents.

Culprits range from shrimp (thousands of dolphins are caught in shrimping nets) and chocolate (known apartheid supporter in South Africa) to corn (ocean oxygen deletion) and beef (greenhouse gases from slaughterhouses).  And Twinkies didn’t even make the list … with a shelf life of 25 days (not 50 years, but still – almost a month-long shelf life for a baked good filled with creme?) you can just imagine what sort of damage they’re doing to the world!

My only hope is for food that’s good, and simple and innocent … like the noble banana.  Wait, no – bananas are on the no-no list too (think colonialization and deforestation – not to mention all of the cartoon characters who slip on their peels).

Maybe I’ll just stick to hot dogs at the ballpark.  Shh… don’t tell me.

It’s been exactly one year since President Obama was sworn into office, and what a year it’s been in T-shirts.  From the “hurrahs” of the Obama supporters to the anti-Obama cries of socialism, tea parties, stimulus noise and the healthcare debate, our community of designers has spent the past year actively participating in the greater political discussion via the blank canvas of the almighty T-shirt.

We now have 3.8 million Obama products – a staggering number, and more than we’ve ever had about a political figure.  (Or any one person, actually – even Edward Cullen fails to sparkle pales in comparison.)

What the next 3 years hold for the country (and the T-shirts) is up for debate; in the meantime, we figured it’s a good time to see what y’all think of the POTUS on this anniversary of his taking office.

“Goodbye.” Or as they say across the pond, “Au revoir.” (OK, maybe that’s from further across the pond…)

Anyway, at least that’s the word out of Simon Cowell’s camp. In case you haven’t heard, the acerbic (or sour-puss … depending on who you ask) American Idol judge announced that he won’t be returning for a ninth season.

Apparently Simon will be passing-up next year’s $36 million American Idol salary to bring his “X-Factor” show over from England.  No word on whether former Idol judge Paula Abdul will be joining him on the new show.  They seemed like such a nice couple … sorta like Oscar & Felix in The Odd Couple (except for a lot more hair).  And as they say, salt can’t live without the pepper – so who knows?

Speaking of Idol, the auditions are already amusing fans far and wide.  The heartfelt “Pants on the Ground” song made General Larry Platt an overnight sensation, spawning some interesting T-shirts and landing him on the talkshow circuit.  And speaking of clothes, you’ll find fan-created American Idol gear right here at CafePress.  As fan-favorite contestants emerge, the designs will keep rolling in.  So check back often for merchandise that showcases your American Idol fanaticism, or hey – make your own.

Before wishing you an adios from this side of the pond, here’s Larry Platt’s “Pants on the Ground” song for you:

Great news, LOST fans: now you can make your own LOST T-shirts, right here at CafePress!  And don’t worry – if you’re not a designer, you can choose among the Lost T-shirts already made by our community of motivated LOST fans.

If you’re making some LOST merchandise, please do play by the rules… remember, just because Benjamin Linus makes up his own doesn’t mean that the T-shirts should follow suit.

In addition to LOST, we’ll be launching fan portals for Grey’s Anatomy, Scrubs, Desperate Housewives, and Legend of the Seeker.  Stay tuned as those portals get up and running…

In the meantime, get ready to gear up for LOST.  Literally.

UPDATE 1/15: Studio Number One (founded by Shepard Fairey) has generously donated a great Haiti T-shirt design for a special edition $15 T-shirt.  100% of the retail price of this shirt will go to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.

The shirt is available in the Haiti Earthquake Relief shop.

The U.S. Fund for UNICEF let us know that $12 can buy 20 packets of high-energy biscuits, developed for malnourished children in emergency situations.  $3 can buy bandages, compresses, and other supplies for dressing wounds.

Thank you for your support, and please spread the word!

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CafePress has partnered with The U.S. Fund for UNICEF to help raise money for Haiti’s earthquake relief efforts.

You can help by shopping our Haiti Relief shop, or by donating** designs to that shop.   To donate designs, please send them to:  HaitiRelief@cafepress.com.**  Proceeds* from the Haiti Relief shop will go directly to The U.S Fund for UNICEF to aid families from Tuesday’s devastating earthquake.

The U.S. Fund for UNICEF is providing safe water, temporary shelters, medical supplies and other essentials to displaced children. Emergency efforts are also in place to help reunite orphaned children reunite with families.  To donate directly, please visit their donation page.

UNICEF has been working in Haiti since 1949, and has a field office and staff already in place.  Their commitment to comprehensive recovery means that your donations will go toward helping communities rebuild, restore  livelihoods, and transform young lives affected by this natural disaster.  To stay informed on their activities in Haiti, check out their blog and Twitter accounts.

CafePress and The U.S. Fund for UNICEF thank you for your support of the Haitian people.

*Proceeds means the total retail price paid by the consumer minus the cost to manufacture the product.  All profits from the sale of products through the Haiti Relief Effort shop will be donated to The U.S. Fund for UNICEF.

**By donating your designs to the Haiti Relief Effort shop you agree that you will not receive any commissions from the sale of  products with your design made through the Haiti Relief Effort shop, and you grant CafePress a limited license to create and sell products with  your design solely through the Haiti Relief Effort shop.

California’s same-sex marriage debate saw the inside of a courtroom yesterday in the first day of the Perry vs. Schwarzenegger trial, a challenge to Proposition 8‘s legality.  This time around, there’s also great debate over the debate – which is to say that same-sex marriage advocates want a televised/video-available trial for Proposition 8, while their opponents want to keep the trial behind closed doors (er… in the closet?).

The Supreme Court sided with the conservative opponents of same-sex marriage, and temporarily overruled U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker‘s allowance to stream video of the trial via YouTube.  That temporary order will remain in effect until January 13th, at which point things may change.  In the meantime there are written transcripts of the trial at Prop8TrialTracker, and others are reporting blow-by-blow via Twitter.

The topic of gay marriage hit the T-shirts many years ago, but with California’s gay marriage debates we’ve seen more content than any other state-specific issue in recent memory.  The merchandise is overwhelmingly in favor of equal marriage rights, but of course this issue isn’t necessarily one wherein opponents want the world to know their stance.

Most seem to think that this particular trial is a landmark case that will ultimately end up in the U.S. Supreme Court.  Time will tell.